Olly Briggs
Olly did not, in fact, like his tutor. He was rude, snobbish, and patronizing. He clearly did not believe in Olly the way Eli seemed to. Frustrated though he was, this did pique Olly’s curiosity around this mystery further….
“Pay attention boy!” The tutor snapped a ruler on the desk in front of him, breaking him out of his reverie.
… and also increased his ire towards his uncle. Either this was misplaced faith or a farce. And either case, he was unamused.
The lessons had started with a description of what the aptitude test would entail. To Olly’s surprise, it would not contain complex metaphysical problems, these were apparently all things learned at the Elite Academy of Higher Principles. The aptitude test would instead consist of a series of situational questions to assess readiness for the stress of leadership. There would be elements of ethics and logic, things that could not be taught. There had to be existing intrinsic talent that could be improved upon, as the tutor bluntly informed him.
“If you don’t already have a mind for it, I will not waste my time attempting to improve what is not there. It is not a learned skill, it is a skill so few are gifted with,” he said with a haughty sniff.
Something told Olly that the tutor did not believe him to possess these skills.
He explained that candidates would then move on to the next round where they would be subjected to a magic test in a very controlled setting. This was again another intrinsic talent that could not be taught. Either someone possessed the ability to wield magic, or they didn’t. Few people did, and generally, the population would never know unless they were tested. It was not a skill that could be wielded effortlessly, and if you happened to have it, and go so far as testing into one of the Guilds that used it, you would still have to go through rigorous testing to appropriately unlock it.
"Excuse me, um, sir?" Olly asked, trying to find an opening in the information being thrown at him.
The tutor gave him a withering look that suggested he did not appreciate being interrupted. However, when he said nothing in response Olly decided to risk his question.
"What about the other Guilds? What do they do?" he asked sheepishly.
The tutor practically sneered. "Do you know anything about the Guilds or did you just wake up one day and decide you wanted to make a mockery of the most prestigious learning institution in the world? How can you claim to want to be a Cartographer if you know nothing about the tunnel process and the role we play in it?"
Olly ground his teeth. He decided to hold his tongue and not argue back about how he hadn't actually ever wanted to be a Cartographer. "I'm sorry sir, I actually don't know much about the tunnel process."
"Well, allow me to enlighten you then," the tutor spoke harshly, "The Cartographers provide the first, and most important, step in the tunnel process. We detect locations where tunnels are created. We do this through a deep understanding of ancient navigational tools and the ability to read maps in multiple dimensions. It all starts at the Academy. By imparting this knowledge on our students we can unlock the abilities identified in those who've shown promise."
He spoke reverently when he spoke of Cartographers. Then his brow furrowed.
"After that the yahoos come in. The Conductors use their magic to “punch” through to the new area, creating a tunnel from 'Point A' to 'Point B'. 'Point B' then becomes permanently accessible by way of the tunnel. Following the punch are the Labourers, they don't do too much except clean up after the Conductors. The Controllers are barely a Guild and don't do much of anything, but they maintain access to the tunnels after their creation is complete."
It sounded to Olly like his tutor was downplaying the importance of the other Guilds.
"If I don't make it as a Cartographer, would the other Guilds be an option?" Olly followed up hopefully.
The tutor practically sneered. "All the Guilds use the aptitude to select their students but if you don't believe that you're good enough to be a Cartographer you shouldn't have pledged for us. If you wanted to join a lesser Guild you should have aimed lower."
"But if I could still get accepted into one of the other Guilds even if I didn't pledge for them?" Olly asked.
"Yes, but it would be embarrassing for you. Also, in case you didn't know this, you can only take the test once."
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Olly suspected the tutor, a retired Cartographer himself, believed that if and when Olly failed, he would at least have been an easy cash grab. He didn’t know how much the tutor was costing his uncle, but he suspected the check his uncle had written had been large enough that the tutor at least had to pretend to be invested.
Once he grew tired of Olly's questions he began the first lesson, logic puzzles. These began straightforward enough with some simple number-based patterns, but the tutor advised him these were merely the easiest of them, irking Olly to no end. As the lesson progressed he found himself tripping over problems that involved reading paragraphs and applying critical reasoning to determine the most correct response. The lack of black-and-white details was beyond what Olly normally had to apply in his day-to-day life.
In real life he dealt with drunks and gamblers, logic didn’t apply there. No one entered the establishment looking for a deeper meaning, they were there to forget about the dreariness of their daily life. He didn’t need to look for hidden meanings or intentions, he just needed to bring the right drinks to the right table and empty ashtrays on a sufficient schedule. He needed to make sure the house always won, even if patrons made small gains here or there. Though his uncle shielded him from other parts of the business, Olly had no place for the ethics of the shady parts of the businesses he was exposed to currently. How could he be asked to put that aside and solve logic and ethics puzzles with a man who had no respect for him or desire for him to succeed? It was like asking a fish to climb a tree.
"I know it’s easy to feel like there’s nothing in it for you right now but find a reason. Find it and hold onto it. You’ll need it to succeed.” His uncle’s earlier words rang in his mind.
Olly ground his teeth, biting back a retort to his tutor calling him out for not paying attention. He didn’t have a reason yet, but maybe proving this asshole wrong was a good place to start.
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Later that night, Olly entered Hijinks in a huff. The first lesson was irritating, to say the least. The tutor had not quit on him, yet, but he had been clear that Olly needed to improve and fast before he embarrassed himself during the aptitude test. He wasn’t expecting him to succeed, but he was concerned a poor showing would reflect poorly on himself and therefore would drop Olly as a client if he did not get up to an appropriately competent level of student.
His mood had only degraded as he saw his uncle for the first time since the morning. He entered mid-shift and Olly watched as he strode rigidly towards his office, not stopping to acknowledge Olly when Olly was running tables. This further incensed Olly. It was bad enough that he was being forced into a situation he didn’t understand, it was worse to feel like he was being iced out by the one person he thought would be in his corner.
The next several tutoring sessions went about as well as the first. Olly felt like he was making small improvements to his practice test scores but they were still coming up far too short compared to the minimums. The tutor did little to encourage him, instead belittling him for not trying hard enough. Olly held his tongue until the tutor turned his sights on his uncle.
“You know, if your uncle wasn’t paying me a considerable amount of money above my normal pay I wouldn’t have even accepted this assignment. Not only are you far below my usual caliber of student, but your social standing is far below that which I would normally agree to be associated with. And believe me, I have many other far more deserving students who are putting in the work and effort needed to succeed. Taking this on was a grave risk to my reputation, and I’m regretting it dearly.”
“Clearly you needed the money or else you wouldn’t be here,” Olly growled, unable to hold back from the abuse any longer.
The tutor, not expecting to be talked back to, recoiled back in shock. “What did you say to me?” he snarled.
“I said, clearly you need the money more than your reputation. I am putting in the work but you’ve done nothing but criticize me and let me fail. How do you expect me to improve if you don’t intend to help me?!” Olly snapped back.
“And clearly you need to be put in your place for the sheer level of disrespect you show not only to me but to this profession. You’re not worth my time or effort, and you would be an embarrassment to the Guild!” The tutor was turning red in the face from anger.
“I’d bet you’re not that highly thought of yourself if you’re resorting to tutoring my kind,” Olly retorted fiercely.
Two things happened at the same time. The first was that the tutor grabbed the wooden ruler he had left out on the table and raised it to strike Olly, while Olly raised his hands to protect his face and squeezed his eyes shut, desperately wanting to defend himself.
The second was that a crack that sounded suspiciously like lightning resonated in his ears and the smell of ozone filled his nostrils. He braced for the strike that never came, and when he reopened his eyes he was rewarded with the sight of his tutor staring at him, wearing a stunned and terrified look on his face. Olly was vindicated for a moment, until he looked down to see that the ruler had splintered into two fragments, and a fractal pattern was now etched onto the table before him, smoking slightly. The tutor dropped the ruler pieces with a clatter and began throwing his personal effects into his bags.
Olly called to stop him, but the tutor ignored him and rushed out the door, with books and pens threatening to fall out of his hastily packed bag.
Olly stood there, mouth agape, heart pounding in horror. He didn’t know what had happened as he looked down at his shaking, yet unblemished, hands. Had he caused this damage? How could that even be possible?
He had been angry but wasn’t trying to cause harm. He just didn’t want this man to threaten and insult him and his uncle in their own home, let alone let him strike him.
Finding his feet he rushed to the phone and dialed his uncle’s office.
“It’s me,” he said hurriedly, “Something’s happened, I need help.”